"What--what do you mean...'kissing'?" Jessie croaked.

Eric stared at her, wide-eyed. I can't believe I SAID that, he thought. "I--forget it," he mumbled, then whirled away.

"W--what do you mean ‡forget it'?!" Jessie yelled. "You think I can forget something like that?! You must be NUTS if you think that!"

Eric turned to her. "Yeah, I MUST be nuts! But now, I'm just telling you not to tell them I saw it. Okay?" He walked away.

Jessie was too stunned to follow.

~ * ~

...Hadji...

Jonny was with him in his dreams...he was acting like a lovesick person...walking with him, talking...then, he held him in his arms. And they were kissing...

"Get up," a hard voice ordered.

Jonny groaned. Then, his eyes snapped open. "Julia?" he whispered.

"Shut up," the voice growled. "Surd's not after you, Quest. I'm just after some answers."

Jonny sat up, blinking against the figure. "Jessie?!" he gasped, realizing that he was seeing an unmistakable glint of red.

"Who did you expect?"

"Why're you here?" Jonny stammered. "Weren't you supposed to be in Africa?"

Jessie's face was hard. "I THOUGHT I was homesick...but it turned out I'm not the one who's sick at all," she replied, trying to keep her voice out of emotions.

"What do you mean?" Jonny asked nervously.

"I'm serious, Quest," Jessie snapped. "Why were you kissing Hadji?"

Jonny could feel the blood drain from his face. "How--how did--?"

"A little bird told me," the girl replied sarcastically.

Eric! Jonny realized. He gave a small groan. "Jessie, it's not what you think--"

Jessie gave a small, short laugh. "It isn't? Then explain to me...why you were muttering his name when you were sleeping?"

"That doesn't MEAN anything," Jonny snapped back.

"Oh yes it does, Quest." Jessie's voice softened. "I just--overreacted, I guess...but Jonny, this is HADJI. Your best friend. Why him?"

"You think I haven't asked that to myself the whole day?" Jonny replied bitterly. "Jessie, my life has been turned upside-down in just twenty-four hours. Don't you think I haven't had my share of torture?"

Jessie was silent. "I'm sorry," she finally said.

Jonny sighed. "It's not your fault."

She stood up. "I need--some time to think." Her voice was strangely quiet.

"Jessie, you HAVE to understand..."

The door closed behind her.

~ * ~

"I heard Jessie came back last night," Benton told Race.

Race smiled. "Yeah. She said she was too homesick and came back. Estella sent a note with her."

"I'm sorry I missed her...Jessie I mean," the doctor went on.

Race shrugged. "She was too tired yesterday. She'd been travelling for twenty-four hours. Speaking of twenty-four hours, Hadji, where's Jonny? He too tired to get up this morning?"

Hadji carefully avoided the probing eyes, focused his attention to the newspaper. "I have no idea, Race. Jonny, I think, had a blast in QuestWorld last night. He must have found it exhausting."

"I don't blame him," Benton chuckled. "That new program you two installed is quite intriguing, even for me."

Hadji shifted uncomfortably at the words "you two". "Yes...it is." He turned the page.

Benton and Race's eyes met with a questioning look.

~ * ~

"You can't avoid him forever," Jonny told himself.

He'd been pacing in his room almost since dawn. He couldn't sleep, and when he fell into slumber, he dreamt of only one thing...felt only the same touches on his skin...

He shivered. "Take it easy, Quest," he told himself.

Finally, the clock ringed at nine o'clock, and Jonny groaned. "Now or never!"

He opened the door and walked down the hallway, to the dining room. He met Mrs. Evans, barely nodded at her as acknowledgement. Instead, with his heart pounding in his ears, he entered the dining room...

...Just in time to hear Hadji call out, "I'm going to town to pick up some supplies," and the backdoor slam close.

Jonny's heart leaped. *He's going out!*

"Jonny! Good morning," Benton greeted.

"'Morning, Dad." Jonny replied.

"You missed Hadji. He's going to town."

"I heard," Jonny replied dryly, pouring some juice for himself and downing it in one gulp.

"Rough night, Jonny?" Race asked. "Is the new program working?"

Jonny frowned. "What new program?" he asked.

"The program you and Hadji installed last week...the one you were playing last night," Benton offered.

"Oh. Okay. Yeah," Jonny replied absently.

Someone entered the kitchen once more. "Good morning, Dad, Dr. Quest," Jessie greeted, kissing her father on the cheek. "Jonny."

"'Morning, Jess." Jonny slammed his glass on the sink and ran out of the backdoor also. "I'm going to the lighthouse." He was gone before they can say anything else.

A few minutes of silence, after Jessie finished also a glass of juice, she announced, "I'm going outside for a walk."

Benton and Race watched the girl disappear outside and frowned at each other. "Did we miss something?" Race asked.

Benton shrugged. "I HONESTLY don't know."